"sure different from when a short block slant-6 was $800 and the full job was $1200 or so back in 1973, but them's the times, and I don't think that ratio exactly follows the inflation curve, either. "

Thats nice to here.This car is only worth 10k low TMV so all most a 1/3of the value for the overhaul,a factory short block would be 2500.00 extra.I hope I can get 100k out of this overhaul.I'm going to over maintance all that I can.I'm not going to use synthic oil though.Tony

I once worked on a program where we were designing a surveillance aircraft for a foreign government by sticking a big radar in the belly of an American business jet. The cost and maintenance figures we were getting from the jet manufacturer made no sense until the manufacturer admitted that the book time to do maintenance could be several times the time required to actually do the maintenance! Also, these jets are usually used by corporate execs and other wealthy types who would never consider doing the work themselves. The ultimate racket.

Trucks, In an old Chilton manual, it gives 5.5 hours to change all four ball joints on 4X2 fords. On the other hand it only give 4.5 on 4X4's that take a lot longer.

Here in salt country, I find it takes about 5.5 to six hours to do all four on a 4X4 including changing all three axel u-joints (change the inner right on the truck with the OTC ball joint press), while I can do all four on a two wheel drive way under 2 hours. The Ford dealers chage the customers 5.5 on customer pay jobs, but Ford pays less on warranty jobs.

Real Time Labor Guide (On disc) quoted the same times when it first came out, and I got a discount on the update for pointing that out.

Back in the mid seventies Chilton gave 1 hour to change a lower ball joint on a Chevrolet, but 2 hours on a Cadillac. It was the same amount of work.

In my shop I use labor guides for unfamiliar work, but set my own times on jobs I do every day. My prices are usually a little lower than the dealers, but substantially higher than Wally-World type places.

Price includes: oil change,tire rotation and balance, tune up, belt adjustments, rear brake service,complete inspection of truck. Thus far I've logged 13,731 (highway) miles and have used the dealer for oil changes every 5k miles. I have elected to rotate my own tires (don't really see a need for rebalancing unless I hit something). My intention is to keep up with any "needed" maintenance on my truck, however I'm having a hard time seeing the need for anything other than an oil change and tire rotation at 15k. Any thoughts

You may have a point glenn but from my point of view some human pair of eyes and hands needs to be looking over a vehicle every 15K or so, yes. Nothing wrong with inspecting brake pad wear, adjusting belts (too tight or too loose is no good) and checking tune up specs as well. Of course you can do some of this yourself but I'd certainly keep records of anything you do or someone else other than the dealer does.

I have my friend's shop do a big 30K service on my car every two years and we find all kinds of little things wrong.

Skipping a major service to save money might have some merit in that some of the "services" may be inflated and meaningless but on the other hand you have foregone the opportunity to inspect the vehicle thoroughly.

I mean, how many times do you read on this board about "I was driving my new car with only 15K on it and suddenly it started to overheat. What a lemon!"

Welllllll, maybe, but maybe there was a coolant leak that was begging for attention as well.

I have a couple of questions regarding CV joint replacement on a 1997 Acura Integra GS-R with a little over 100,000 miles. I am quite sure my CV joints are on the way out (3 of the 4 boots are split and have shot grease all over the lower control arms and oil pan), but they have not shown the signs of cv joint failure. They have been split for the past 20,000 miles or so.

I have been serching around the internet for the cost of joint/halfshaft replacement without luck. I have stumbled across a few sites that say the only noise a bad joint will make is the typical clicking noise.

Now my joints dont click. But when I do go over a speed bump or drive on a bumpy road the drivers side creaks. Should I just wait awhile till they start to click for replacement?

Now my second question is. Would it be cheaper to have the halfshafts done while I am having my clutch replaced or my timing belt replaced (which are due soon anyways) to save some labor?

Finally. Does anyone have an approximate cost of the entire halfshaft replacement cost?

You can also pull the shafts and have them inspected, since maybe changing the boots is all you need. However, this may not be cost effective for some cars. It certainly was for my Saab, where the CV joints are very expensive (like everything else on the car). Given that you've let the boots go for 20K, you've probably ruined the CV joints anyway.

I don't know if mechanics even break down CV joints and inspect them anymore.

We're having some work done on my Grandma's '85 LeSabre Limited. My uncle wants to start driving the thing on a regular basis to keep the mileage off his truck, so we took it to my regular mechanic to have them check everything out and find just about everything wrong they possibly could.

Well, there was plenty wrong with it, but the most critical items were the center link and idler arm in the steering, front brake pads, and the brake rotors, which are below spec and can't be turned anymore That's probably not a shock though, for a car with 156000 miles or so on it.. So to have new rotors and pads put on the front, the rear drum brakes cleaned and adjusted, plus the idler arm and center link replaced, is going to come out to about $682.00.

There was a time when I would've balked at a price like that, but nowadays, that's probably not even 2 months of payments on a modest new car!

Anybody have any comments on that price? I've never done much suspension work, except for helping a friend replace ball joints on a '71 Duster, so I really don't know how involved it is. Those old-style rotors are pretty expensive and require a lot of labor too, don't they?

Just out of curiosity, let's say my '00 Intrepid needed the same repairs? Any guesses on how comparable the price would be?

I must agree with your drift on this. That is a big price to sock into an old car with over 150K on it, in order to keep miles off another vehicle. That is, it may make the transfer of mileage from one to the other not a very good financial thing, unless the Buick can provide many thousands of miles of transportation. Only Andre's uncle can answer that one, I suspect. It's a tough call. If I am not mistaken, the 2000 Intrepid has a rack and pinion steering system versus the old Buick having a recirculating ball steering system. You can't compare the two! A new rack installed in the Dodge would go $500 plus, then the front brakes for what, $100 plus? I must admit I am thinking the quoted price for the Buick repair is rather high.

...for the input. I think my uncle's reasoning is that he just wants to forego replacing his truck for as long as possible. It's a '97 Silverado, with about 80,000 miles on it, and he's down to the final few payments.

Full-size pickups nowadays are expensive as heck, so I guess he figures that the longer he can make his current one last, the better off he is.

Body-wise, there are only a few parking lot dings, and the typical paint of the era that's long-since faded on the hood and trunk. The rear bumper is rusting, but the frame, floor pan, and most of the other underpinnings look fine. No water leaks yet. Also, the 307 and driveline feel like they'll go on forever and truthfully, I think most modern GM cars squeak and rattle more than this one does!

If it were up to me alone, I would get rid of the car simply because I do not need it. My grandmother doesn't drive anymore, and she signed it over to me about 3 years ago, and my uncle and I just used it as a spare car. In fact, I checked the mileage records, and it's gone a whopping 12,000 miles since it's been in my name! So if things were going to stay the same, I'd just get rid of it, but with him wanting to start driving it more, it may be worth it to put some money into it.

Otherwise, my uncle was thinking about getting a cheap, brand-new car like an Echo to drive around. So again, putting some money into the old Buick will keep him out of a car payment for awhile...just as long as the costs to upkeep the Buick don't start exceeding what a new car payment would be!!

...thanks for the input about the Intrepid versus Buick thing. I knew the steering systems are different between the two, but it just didn't hit me that they were so totally different that you couldn't compare the two!

As for brake disks, aren't the newer ones actually less expensive than the older ones? I've never replaced a disk before (done plenty of drums though!), so I don't know, first-hand. I've just heard that the newer ones are more "disposable" and easier to replace than the older ones.

That you're probably looking at about $250 worth of parts and 2-3 hours of work, if you were to do it yourself. It's probably not too bad a job, and IMHO the car probably would run several thousand more miles.

It depends on how much he will drive it. Name brand centerlinks list for over $100, idler arms about $50, and brake rotor include the hub and may be $50 to 80 each. Off brand parts for a do-it-yourselfer are about half the price, but most shops (including me) won't sell them or put them on. When they wear out, the customer remembers that your repair didn't last as long as the original, not how cheap it was. One other shop I know used to install customer's parts, and in one case when they wore out, the customer got new, took the old back for warranty credit, and was told there was nothing wrong with the parts except bad installation.

On the brakes, first see if the bleeder screws can be opened. Use pentrating oil, wait a couple days and use it again. If they can, put new seals and boots in the calipers. (e-mail me, and I'll tell you the tricks to do it easily, I won't post them because people who don't follow the direction exactly can create a dangerous situation.) If not "loaded" rebuilt calipers have pads and necessary hardware already installed. Just hang and bleed.

You should have the alignment checked after replacing a centerlink and idler arm.